How Charles Met Madiba

18 Jul How Charles Met Madiba

Sometime in the 90s, Charles was jogging along the road in the South Coast town of Vermont near Hermanus, when he spotted Nelson Mandela standing on the stoep of celebrated South African artist, Gregory Boonzaier.

Awe-struck, he heard Mandela say ‘Kom hier boetie’ (‘Come here, brother’ in Afrikaans) and realised it was directed at him. What ensued was a long chat, and when Mandela asked Charles where he comes from and heard Paarl, he responded saying ‘I lived there for a long time too’ …(Nelson Mandela served 14 months at Victor Verster Prison [now Drakenstein Correctional Centre] until his release on 11 February 1990).

To this day, Charles reflects back saying that there’s few people he’s met in his life that truly had an aura about them, and that Mandela makes top of that list.

Here’s to you Madiba – we’ll work hard to make sure your legacy of a unified country lives on!